The traditions of typographic and book design
When Johannes Gutenberg introduced movable type to the Western world in 1440 he also laid the foundations for a new art form-the design and casting of letter forms- and converted printers into a new industry of private press publishers. Early type designers such as Aldus Manutius, Nicholas Janson, Claude Garamond, and William Caslon gave their names to letterforms that endure to this day. Early self-publishing printers such as William Caxton, Benjamin Franklin and William Morris established a tradition that has been rejuvenated in the present. Craft, design, and art now connect the trinity of letterforms, printing, and thought in the supply chain of language. The benefits of this tradition are celebrated in the modern era in the networks created by book designers throughout the publishing industry.

It is our own modest endeavor to honor these origins and traditions using today's media by providing simple, classically grounded short-subject book designs that will preserve your works as keepsakes and can even make them available for sale as expressions of lasting value in the Worthy Shorts design collection and gallery.

Throughout this web site, we display sample views of various short subject books on which you can click to see some of their interior pages. Taken collectively, they provide a gallery of design choices among which you can choose. As a registered Worthy Shorts^® author, you will have access to an even larger Design Template Gallery showing more type and layout details to guide you in preparing the content for your Worthy Shorts^® publications. (To register, click on the book icon in the upper right hand corner of this page) Click on any of the covers in the visual index below, and you will be shown a pdf display of the full front and back cover, selected interior pages, and some highlights of the content and how it came to be published as a Worthy Short.

Future collections and galleries
These are the initial offerings among what will be further future gallery offerings of specialized design treatments by distinguished graphic designers.